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Reinvigorate is a new free web analytics service. It offers everything that a standard website metrics service provides, but it offers so much more.

Reinvigorate sports a very clean and well organised web interface, that�s not only functional but also fast. Let�s have a look at various reports offered by Reinvigorate.

Traffic : Reinvigorate displays the number of page views and the number of unique visitors on an hourly, daily and monthly basis using tables and graphs. The screenshot below demonstrates some of the graphs offered by Reinvigorate.

Traffic (Graphical)

Continue reading “Reinvigorate – Smart Web Metrics”

Irrespective of the browser you use, irrespective of the security software installed on your system if you are using Windows you are never truly secure. There is always the possibility that a trojan horse or a worm may sneak through. There is always the possibility that someone may exploit a zero-day vulnerability present in your browser.

So, what is the solution? The best solution is to completely separate the browser from your system so that your browsing session doesn�t affect the system. This is called creating a sandbox – a virtual container in which untrusted programs can be safely run (more info is available at Wikipedia). There are two free and easy to use solutions that I recommend.

Sandboxie

Sandboxie creates a safe environment – which is separated from your operating system, for applications to operate in. It tracks all requests made by an application and makes sure that actual system files are never modified. Restrictions put in place by Sanboxie also ensures that threats like rootkits and keyloggers aren’t installed in the Sandbox itself as well as the system. Sandboxie is a donationware and almost all the features are available for free (more info). Sandboxie is a very powerful software with plethora of options. It should work with most applications. I tested it with Opera and didn�t run into any problem. It allows you to even create and manage multiple sandboxes. However, the free version of Sandboxie doesn’t automatically sandbox particular applications when they are launched. There is another issue with Sandboxie – files downloaded using a sandboxed application are not normally visible in Windows Explorer. Sandboxie replicates the actual directory structure on your hard disk and places the downloaded files in its own ‘Application Data’ folder.

Download Sandboxie (230KB/320KB)
Requirements : Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista (64 bit edition also available)
Version Reviewed : 2.86 (Freeware)
Licensing : Donationware

Continue reading “Sandbox Your Way To Tension Free Web Surfing”

Don’t forget to check out the other two articles in this series – Ten Things You Can Do with IrfanView and Still More Things You Can Do with IrfanView.

Last month I blogged about “Ten Things You Can Do With IrfanView” (you should read my previous article on IrfanView before reading this). I covered basic image manipulation options offered by IrfanView in the previous article. This time I shall highlight some of the more advanced functionalities offered by IrfanView.

1. Screensaver/Slideshow with Music : IrfanView allows you to use create simple slideshows and screensavers using multiple images. Press W (or select “Slideshow” from File menu) to bring up the Slideshow/Screensaver tool. Now simple add images you wish to include in your Slideshow/Screensaver. If you want to add background music, add MP3 files into the slideshow file list, usually at the beginning or before an image. The MP3 file is played until it ends or until next MP3 is loaded from the file list. IrfanView Plugins should be also installed, at least the MP3 Plugin.

2. Panorama : IrfanView allows you to create panorama images by merging multiple images. You will find this option under “Image” menu.

3. Batch Resize/Convert/Compress/Rename : Batch Processing abilities is what makes IrfanView really powerful. Launch the Batch Processing tool by pressing B (you can also find it under “File” menu). You can resize, convert and rename a whole bunch of image files at a time. You can also use it to compress multiple images at a go. This is very useful if you are going to upload images to the web. In order to compress a JPG or GIF image just reduce the quality of image from “Options”. Normally a value between 60 and 70 works best. For PNG images also you get the option to choose compression level. For better results you use the PNGOUT plugin. You can even rotate images , adjust colours or add overlay text.

Continue reading “Ten More Things You Can Do With IrfanView”

Ever since Facebook opened itself up and released an API to programmers, there has been a mad rush to take advantage of Facebook platform. Tons of new apps are being added everyday. To those who don’t know – Facebook is a social networking website. Recently it opened itself up to 3rd party developers giving them access to its functionalities. Facebook applications are essentially widgets that can be added to enhance your social networking experience. So far several hundred Facebook applications have been created. Obviously I haven’t tried them all. However, among the ones I have tried my top five Facebook applications (in random order) are :

HotLists : Hotlist is based on the principle that a picture is worth a thousand words. Use icons to display what you like – be it companies or television shows or movies or music or celebrities. I prefer this to using simple text to list out your preferences.

Graffiti : Let your creative juice flow. Instead of just posting simple messages on the wall you can draw them using this application. This can be loads of fun and is a nice way to kill time.

Last.fm Music : Last.fm is a website that tracks what songs you listen to and suggests music based on your music taste. Not only does the last.fm widget display recently played tracks it also allows you to create custom (tag based) radio station. It also displays your top artists for the previous week.

You can also use the Last.fm Plus application. It doesn’t have last.fm radio but provides a lot more options as far as displaying statistics is concerned.
Continue reading “My Favourite Top 5 Facebook Applications”